My friend leaned back, perplexed. ¡°The Japanese don¡¯t seem very concerned about Trump,¡± he said, equal parts question and comment. ¡°At least, compared to the Europeans.¡±
I checked the impulse to boot up the lecture on Japanese insecurity and Tokyo¡¯s hedging. and pondered his statement. The more I thought about it, the more I realized that he might be right.
After all, the official line from the Japanese government is that the relationship is good. In March, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi expressed ¡°full confidence¡± that the U.S. will fulfill its obligations under the mutual security treaty and defend Japan, ¡°using all available capabilities, including nuclear ones.¡± That statement came after Trump again questioned the pact, claiming that the U.S. was obliged to defend Japan while Tokyo had no such responsibility.
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